Rutgers Women’s Basketball Finishes Regular Season with ‘W’

In what was a tough regular season for the Scarlet Knights, Rutgers wrapped up the 2021-22 schedule with a stellar second half performance in a 66-56 victory over Illinois. Rutgers finished the season at 10-19 with three victories coming in their its last five games.

Rutgers trailed by as many as seven points mid-way through the third quarter before a spirited comeback, that included a 23-point fourth quarter paved the way to victory.

Lasha Petree's three pointer with 5:32 to go in the third really proved to be a turning point in the game, even though it brought Rutgers to within four points, 36-32. Minutes later Saywani Lassiter's three cut the deficit to a single digit, 39-38, and Rutgers was clearly feeling the momentum shifting its way.

After a pair of missed shots by Illinois, Rutgers took the lead when Lassiter cashed in on a three-pointer to put RU up 41-39 with 1:02 to go in the quarter.

It was all Rutgers after that. Back-to-back buckets Shug Dickson and Awa Sidibe on a fastbreak pushed the Rutgers' lead up to six points 47-41 with 9:04 to go in the fourth.

Minutes later back-to-back jump shots by Osh Brown and Dickson kept Rutgers well in front by seven, 59-52, with the icing on the cake coming Lassiter's final three-pointer of the day with 1:00 to go to make it a 64-56 ballgame.

Lassiter finished with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-7 from downtown. Dickson had 19 pints on 6-of-17 shooting; Osh Brown had 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

Rutgers will make it to the Big Ten Tournament, which begins March 2. They will face 12th ranked Penn State to open the tournament at 2 p.m.